Thursday 12 March 2015

Cheesy Bodrum


While I was struggling to get back from a Greek Island, Bodrum was having a cheesy time.  I missed most of the events, but caught the cheese tasting in Oasis Shopping Mall.  I was particularly taken with a Gravyer made in Kars, which not surprisingly tasted just like Gruyere.  I now have an excuse to dust off the fondue set that is on a back shelf somewhere in my village storeroom and get stirring.  I always think of fondue as being a Swiss/French/Italian dish only earned after a day on the ski slopes, but according to Mr. Google there is a recipe for melted goats' cheese, Pramnos wine and flour in Homer's Iliad, so we are geographically ideally placed to stage a Fondue Renaissance. 


While on the subject of cheese, I'm going to plug my local cheese supplier: İnci Peynir is a family business based in Mumcular that has been supplying dairy products for over 50 years. I used to top up my fridge every Sunday at the local market but now Mehmet İnci has opened a shop in the centre of Bodrum. I recommend a visit because apart from an array of different cheeses, he has buffalo butter, great yogurt and a shifting display of village made savouries and desserts.


For anyone of my age,  a cheese shop will always be an excuse to "come over all peckish " and "negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles" so I will leave you with a reminder of the cheese shop that shaped a generation's expectation of fermented curd emporiums.



İnci Peynir Evi is to be found behind the greengrocers' stalls on the main road into Bodrum from the bus garage.

14 comments:

  1. lucky you over there - there's not much in the way of innovation here in the boondocks!

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    1. Do they bury cheese in a clay pot where you are? They used to here.

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  2. I hope Cleese doesn't frequent your cheesemonger....

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    1. Well, he wouldn't find any Venezuelan Beaver Cheese

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  3. Oooh, very sophisticated in Bodrum, then. :) Love Kars Gravyer. I remember trying it in a specialist cheese shop with Turkish friends in Kars and they pulled a face and said they preferred kaşar. Each to their own. Me and Barry strongly disagreed with them. :)

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    1. I hadn't even realised that Gravyer was a Kars speciality

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  4. Another plus to Bodrum for this cheese event, Iucky you to have Incir Peynir at your door step :)

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  5. B to B, Almost peed myself watching the sketch, thanks. Ahhh, fondue. Haven't had it or thought about it since a bit past the middle of the last century when we youngsters used to throw parties with it. Even think I have a set gathering dust somewhere . . . .

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    1. Glad you enjoyed a bit of comic ancient history

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  6. Mmm, a cheese fair.... I love sampling local cheeses wherever I go. Loved the Monty Python sketch - I haven't seen it for ages. :-)

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    1. urkish cheese is an acquired taste, but once acquired...

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  7. Delicious. As I get older, I'm getting more into cheese - terrible for my cholesterol, I suppose. Just as well I'm on statins!

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    1. Ditch the statins - eat more cheese - much better for you

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